Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes with White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

 

I made these cupcakes to take to work, to help get us through the winter blues and have a treat for Valentines Day. I doubled the recipe and ended up with an odd number of cupcakes. A single recipe will yield about 15. The recipe below is for a single batch of cupcakes. 

Theses cupcakes are a bit more involved than a typical one, but oh so worth it. The cupcakes are filled with a cream cheese filling giving them a creamy and delicious center. The top of the cupcake is covered in mashed raspberries and then topped with the most deliciously rich and silky buttercream.

To get the cheesecake filling in these cupcakes, I added a bit of batter to the liners, made a little indent in the batter, added in some cheesecake filling and then topped with more batter.

Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes with White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients:

Cheesecake Filling

• 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

Cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/2 cup whole milk

Raspberry Topping

• 1 cup raspberries, mashed

White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 3 egg whites
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature cut into tablespoon pieces
• 8 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature

Directions:

Cheesecake Filling

1. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, sour cream and sugar. Continue beating until well mixed.

Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line two muffin tins with 15 liners.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour and baking powder. Set aside
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add in the egg and mix until well combined.
5. With the mixer on low, add in 1/3 of the flour, followed by half of the milk. Repeat this again, ending with the last 1/3 of flour. Mix just until combined, do not over mix.
6. Place a slightly heaping tablespoon of batter into the liners. Make a small indent in the batter and add in 2 teaspoons of cheesecake filling. If you still have filling left, add a little bit more to each liner until all of it is used up. Top the cheesecake filling with more batter filling the liners about 3/4 full.
7. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
8. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then remove and place on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1. In a heatproof medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites and sugar.
2. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, the bowl should not touch the water. Whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 160º F and the sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Carefully pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat on medium-high speed until stiff glossy peaks form and the bowl feels room temperature and not warm.
4. Switch to the paddle attachment. 
5. With the mixer on medium speed add the butter 1 tablespoons at a time mixing until it is completely incorporated before adding more butter. With the mixer still running, pour in the melted chocolate. The mixture may appear clumpy or curdled, this is normal, keep on mixing and it will become smooth again.
6. Top each cooled cupcake with some mashed raspberries.
7. Place some buttercream into a pipping bag fitted with your desired tip. Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes. 

Enjoy!!!

Yields: about 15 cupcakes

*Adapted from Little Yellow Barn.